Houtongs, Forbidden Cities, and Mosquitoes

Today was a jam packed day! We started early after a somewhat decent night's sleep (Josh's was debatably less restful, due to waking at regular intervals, but mine was better than I expected). The breakfast buffet at our hotel was superb. That was a nice start, and then we were off touring. We went on a pedicab ride and toured a Houtong, which is an old neighborhood, some dating back 800 years. We got to tour a house and visit with the woman whose family has owned the house for over 120 years. Next, we went to the Silk Factory where we learned all about how silk products are made, and then got to shop... which we did... spent more than I would've back home, but even Josh said "how often are you in China?"
Lunch was up next, and it was actually Chinese food, instead of KFC, which we had for dinner last night. It was pretty good, and I was able to avoid having to use the squatty potty as Kelly pointed out that most places have at least one normal toilet at the end of every row. Why am I talking about toilets more than food? Well... I really don't look forward to having to use those things! Anyway, lunch was good. There you go.
Then it was back onto the bus for a short drive over to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. It was interesting, but the day was so incredibly windy that it was a little hard to fully enjoy it at times. It was cold, but that wasn't the issue by itself. It was the 25 mph or so winds whipping through constantly that made it a little hard to concentrate. Had the weather been more accommodating, I would've liked to wander the grounds more and explore, but we pretty much just kept to the main path directly through the middle. We went through courtyard after courtyard, and they all pretty much looked the same to me until we got through them and finally found the areas where people probably spent more of their daily lives, but by then, the group was completely spent and we were on the way out. Oh well. Got a few cool pictures, which I apparently can't share with you at the moment because after four tries to upload them, all I could get to go through was this one at the top. But at least it proves we were there.

And the mosquitoes part: that's what they call the street vendors who surround you relentlessly from the minute you step off the bus until the minute you reacho your destination. George, our guide, says it's best not to say a word and walk through them like they're not even there... so that's what I did, but a few people tried politely saying "no," and ended up in conversation... a road I'd rather not go down.
It's not even 8 p.m. yet and Josh is snoozing and I'm on my way to as well. So, maybe tomorrow after the Great Wall I will be able to share more. Signing off for now though. It was a really cool day though... I enjoyed all the sights!